The Timor sparrow (''Padda fuscata''), also known as Timor dusky sparrow, is a small, approximately 14 cm long, plump dark brown

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5000 ...

with a large silvery-blue

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

, white cheek, pink feet and creamy-white belly. Both sexes are similar. Its appearance resembles the closely related

Java sparrow The Java sparrow (''Padda oryzivora''), also known as Java finch, Java rice sparrow or Java rice bird, is a small passerine bird. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in Java, Bali and Bawean in Indonesia. It is a popular cage bird, ...

, but is smaller than the latter and has different coloured plumage. The Timor sparrow inhabits the grasslands and lowlands of the

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, also ...

archipelago. Its diet consists mainly of rice and seeds. Due to ongoing habitat loss, limited range and illegal trapping for cage-bird trade, the Timor sparrow is evaluated as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Some taxonomists place this species and the Java sparrow in their own genus, ''Padda''.

References

* Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is near threatened.

External links

BirdLife International.org: ''Lonchura fuscata'' species factsheet
*
Red Data Book.id: ''Lonchura fuscata''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q27075730 Timor sparrow Birds of the Lesser Sunda Islands Birds of Timor Timor sparrow Near threatened animals Near threatened biota of Asia Near threatened biota of Oceania Timor sparrow Timor sparrow Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN